town hall

noun

1
: a public building used for town-government offices and meetings
2
: an event at which a public official or political candidate addresses an audience by answering questions posed by individual members
Town halls have lost some of their spontaneity. The 80 or so undecided voters chosen for Tuesday's event must submit their questions in advance and moderator Candy Crowley of CNN will decide which people to call on.Connie Cass

Examples of town hall in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Town hall meetings The Auraria Higher Education Center is holding town hall meetings to discuss the new campus master plan from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 7, and noon to 1 p.m. Monday, March 11, in the Multicultural Lounge or via Zoom. Visit ahec.edu for details. Elizabeth Hernandez, The Denver Post, 6 Mar. 2024 Features for creating summaries and turning hours-long videos into five-minute highlight clips will take this even further, potentially eliminating the need for employees to join those lengthy town hall meetings altogether. Sage Lazzaro, Fortune, 29 Feb. 2024 His first event in South Carolina since a Feb. 14 rally in Charleston was a Fox News town hall in Greenville on Tuesday. USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 His comments came after Trump teased the media during a Fox News town hall on Tuesday by acknowledging that there are at least six people on his shortlist of potential running mates. Alexandra Banner, CNN, 23 Feb. 2024 Topline Former President Donald Trump signaled Tuesday several high-profile Republicans and at least one former Democratic lawmaker are part of a shortlist to be his running mate for the 2024 election, during a Fox News town hall broadcast. Siladitya Ray, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 And Haley stoked controversy most recently last December, after responding to a question about the cause of the Civil War during a New Hampshire town hall and failing to mention slavery. USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024 People packed a town hall meeting Wednesday night to demand the city kill the project. Harrison Mantas, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Feb. 2024 According to Bradford and Wilson, company leadership also failed to attend or rescheduled multiple town hall meetings planned by the pair, including one last March. Tamia Fowlkes, Journal Sentinel, 14 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'town hall.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of town hall was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near town hall

Cite this Entry

“Town hall.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/town%20hall. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

town hall

noun
: a public building used for offices and meetings of town government
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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